An Evaluation Framework for Schools as Community Hubs

Abstract

AbstractThe Building Connections: Schools as Community Hubs project is concerned with increasing social value within communities through understanding the development, merit, worth and significance of schools that engage with the community. This process involves identifying the multiple components of such schools developed with diverse target groups across a range of community settings. In this context, assessing the program implementation process is essential to capturing and documenting the realities of a school's planning, development, and implementation as a community hub. This chapter outlines an evaluation framework generated to document the development and implementation of community hub schools, as well as their effectiveness and efficiency. It argues that the evaluation process is essential for initial development, ongoing sustainability, and future scaling. The proposed framework builds on an adapted form of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Framework for Program Evaluation (2011). This CDC Framework provides an overarching theoretical evaluation framework that facilitates collaboration with all stakeholders and encourages the development of a learning environment and feedback as a part of the evaluation. The model emphasises the process of engagement and outcomes, and seeks to describe the realities of implementation in complex contexts to explain outcomes.